Festive demand likely to boost Indian Gold Coin sales

NEW DELHI (Scrap Monster): The sale of Indian Gold Coins is likely to witness significant surge during the festive season. The coins are turning out to be the favorite investment option for Indian retail customers. In order to meet the expected rise in demand, MMTC has tied up with more private banks to sell gold coins.

There are several reasons for customers to prefer investment in Indian Gold coins during the gold buying festival. Firstly, it is the only gold coin that is minted in Indian Government Mint and hallmarked by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), thereby ensuring 99.9% purity. Also, customers can make investments in small quantities, starting from as little as 5 grams to 20 grams of gold. Moreover, the buyers could save the gold wastage and manufacturing charges that must be paid while purchasing gold jewellery. The coins carry high resale value and also come with buy-back offer, which ensures easy encashment of these gold coins at any point of time.

MMTC has entered into agreement with leading banks in the country to further accelerate the sale of Indian Gold Coins. The public sector enterprise has announced tie-up with HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Andhra Bank, whereby these banks could sell the coins. The retail sales agreement also incorporates a new buyback option to customers. MMTC has tied up with Indian Overseas Bank, Vijaya Bank, Federal Bank and YES Bank to sell gold coins in denominations of 5 gm and 10 gm coin. Since its launch a year ago, MMTC has partnered with seven leading banks to retail gold coins. The agency plans to partner with more banks in order to widen the distribution, said Ved Prakash, Chairman and Managing Director, MMTC. In addition, MMTC is also believed to be in talks with India Post to make the gold coins available through designated post office branches across the country.

Meantime, BlueStone-an online Indian jewellery company has launched a unique ATM which dispenses gold coins in exchange of money. The machine accepts payment through cash, debit card and credit card. It is capable of dispensing gold coins of different weights ranging from as low as 1 gram to 20 grams at prevailing market rates. The ATM also delivers the certificate of purity and genuineness along with the coin. The company plans to set up similar machines in other major cities.

The India Gold Coin was launched on November 5^th last year by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an attempt to curtail India’s rising gold imports. The Indian Gold Coin has the national emblem, the Ashok Chakra, engraved on one side and the face of Mahatma Gandhi on the other. The coins are presently available in 5, 10 and 20 grams denominations that come with 99.9% purity. The gold coins are minted by the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd and hallmarked by the Bureau of Indian Standards. The country’s first ever gold coin carries anti-counterfeit features and tamper-proof packaging.

Incidentally, gold coins and bars account for almost one-third of the total gold bought by Indian consumers.